1

Tenth Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture-2011

ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES AND ENERGY SECURITY IN INDIA

R. CHIDAMBARAM

It is a privilege to give the 10th Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture. A symbol of

youthful India, Rajiv Gandhi was and continues to be the youngest Prime Minister in Indian

history. He not only catalyzed the introduction of computer technology in everyday life but also

supported the development of other technologies – ranging from nuclear to rural. One of my

definitions of a ‘developed India’ is an India where the quality of life in rural India becomes

comparable to the quality of life in the non-urban areas of already developed countries. That is

why I appreciate this initiative of Dr. Sundar Ram and his colleagues in setting up the “Academy of

Grassroots Studies and Research of India”. Inclusive national development demands sustainable

rural development.

Sustainable Development has been defined by the Brundtland Commission (1997) as

Development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs”. Developing countries also want equity along with

sustainable development. Energy Security for all countries is an essential component for such

development.

The millennium Development Goals like Eradication of Extreme Poverty and Hunger,

promotion of Gender Equality and empowering women, reduction of Child Mortality rate etc. can

be compressed into a single goal of improvement in the Human Development Index (HDI). I have

been saying for more than two decades that, in my opinion, HDI can be redefined in terms of

twoparameters: Per Capita Electricity Consumption (PCEC)and Female Literacy. I prefer “Female

Literacy” to “Adult Literacy” used by UN as one of three parameters to define HDI because the

former (Female Literacy) is a measure not only of literacy but also of equity and justice in that

society. It can be shown that the two other parameters used by UN to define HDI, viz. Per Capita

GDP and Life Expectancy at Birth, for a developing country like India, can be replaced by just one

parameter PCEC.

India can become a “developed country” only if it becomes near 100% literate,without

gender discrimination, and its per capita electricity consumption goes up by 6 to 8 times. Also

energy security demands that this increased level of per capita electricity consumption should

besustained. The sources for energy security for India are fossil fuels, particularly coal; renewable

sources (hydro, solar, wind etc.) ; and nuclear. There are future possibilities for helping in

achieving energy security like bio-fuels, shale gas and nuclear fusion.

Text of the Tenth Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture, delivered by Dr R. Chidambaram,

Principal Scientific Advisor to Govt. of India, New Delhi, held on 29 February, 2012 at Hotel Bliss (Darbar

Hall), Tirupati, under the aegis of Academy of Grassroots Studies and Research of India (AGRASRI), in

Collaboration with Rajiv Rural Development Foundation (RRDF), Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh.

2

Energy Security has to be assessed in the context of the Climate Change Threat, to mitigate

which the CO2 omissions from fossil-fuelled (essentially coal-based as far as India is concerned)

energy-producing systems have to be minimized. The higher the temperature of the steam that

you produce, the lower is the production of CO2 per MW. That is why we are starting an R&D

programme for the design of an Advanced Ultra Supercritical coal-based thermal plant as part of

an additional 9th Mission on ‘Clean (or relatively cleaner) Coal Technologies’ to the eight Missions

in the National Action Plan on Climate Change, released by the Prime Minister in 2008. Since we

shall be producing steam at 700C, we need advanced materials development and testing

(expertise for this exists in the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research: IGCAR), corresponding

power engineering equipment has to be manufactured (capability for this exists in BHEL) and the

800 MWe Advanced Ultra Super Critical Prototype plant will be built by NTPC. A tripartite MoU

has been signed by IGCAR, BHEL and NTPC for this project. A preliminary R&D project leading to

this is being funded and coordinated by my Office.

The Renewables are very important for India. We need both large hydroelectric projects

and mini and micro hydel plants. The displacement of people and working out compensation

packages for them delays large hydro projects in India. Solar power for a developing country like

India is very important, both photovoltaic and thermal. But unit energy costs are

presentlyrelatively high(except for remote communities) and solar power has, therefore, to be

subsidized, though there is great optimism among scientists that the costs will come down. Also

the sun is not available 24x7. The capacity factors of wind power plants are low,though they are

also very important. There is no question that renewables will play an essential role in a low

carbon energy economy. Prof. S.P. Sukhatme, former Director, IIT Bombay, has recently calculated

that renewables alone will, in any case, not suffice for meeting India’s energy needs.

It is in this context that nuclear power becomes an important (in fact an inevitable) energy

option for India. In a 2008 report on “Reinforcing the Global Nuclear Order for Peace and

Prosperity: The Role of the IAEA to 2020 and Beyond” prepared by an Independent Commission (I

was a member of this Commission) at the request of the Director-General, International Atomic

Energy Agency, the Commission said: “Expanded use of nuclear technologies offers immense

potential to meet important development needs. In fact, to satisfy energy demands and to mitigate

the threat of climate change – two of the 21st century’s greatest challenges – there are major

opportunities for expansion of nuclear energy in those countries that choose to have it”. Lessons

have been learnt from the recent Fukushima accident in Japan, particularly on the continued

functioning of post-shutdown cooling systems after even remotely possible extreme natural

events. Such safety reviews have been carried out in all leading nuclear countries in the world

including India. But the above conclusion on the importance of the nuclear energy option remains

unchanged.

This is particularly true of large energy-stressed countries like India and China. An

already-developed country like Germany, which is near the top of the Human Development Index

curve, can afford to ignore nuclear energy inputs (in the short term). Actually, in the IAEA General

3

Conference held on Vienna in September 2011, most of the countries have reiterated their support

for Nuclear Power. For example, United Kingdome gave a list of eight potential sites for building

new reactors. Eighty percent of all electricity in France comes from more than fifty nuclear power

plants and they are strongly pursuing this technology.USA has nearly a hundred operating

reactors. And they are not talking of shutting them down. The Chinese representative at the IAEA

General Conference in September, 2011 quoted an old Chinese proverb after referring to

Fukushima: “Should not stop eating for fear of choking!”. You should only take precautions to

avoid choking!.

India has an excellent track record in safety in more than four decades of operating nuclear

reactors. Safety is in design and in operation; safety has to be ensured through regulation. But,

most importantly, safety is assured through a safety culture, which exists in ample measure in the

Department of Atomic Energy. The first person Homi Bhabha invited to join BARC was not the

physicist Raja Ramanna, the metallurgist Brahm Prakash or the engineer Homi Sethna,but Dr. A.R.

Gopal Ayengar, a biologist – this was because Bhabha was aware of the need for radiation safety.

When I used to meet Julio Gonzales one or two decades back, the Argentenian scientist, who was a

member/chairman of many committees dealing with radiation protection guidelines, he often said

Dr. A.K. Ganguly of BARC was his Guru! Safety – including Radiation Safety – has always been a

priority of DAE and, in fact, is the foundation for the safety culture of DAE and its excellent safety

record.

For people in the neighbourhood of a nuclear power plant (existing or planned), the above

facts and the benefit of nuclear energy – directly as power and as spin-offs in medicine,

agriculture, hydrology, industry, etc. – must be conveyed through increased ‘Neighbourhood

Public Awareness Programmes.”

To put things in perspective, the 900+MW that Tamil Nadu will get from the two

Kudankulam VVER 1000 reactors (which have advanced safety features and are safe by a large

margin against any conceivable tsunami event) is the power that is currently supplied to more

than four million people in Tamil Nadu! From any energy producing system, a part goes to small

towns and villages, which, therefore, get better drinking water, better sanitation, better primary

health care, all of which have a positive impact on health parameters including the ultimate health

parameter, life expectancy at birth, and therefore, on the Human Development Index. There is

little doubt that sustained nuclear power growth is necessary for both rapid national development

and rapid rural development in India. We have already seen that the local economy in the regions

around our nuclear plants begins to flourish even during the execution of a nuclear power project

and, of course, after its execution. And our reactors are located in rural areas.

There are many initiatives for rural development by the Government, voluntary

organisations and the corporate sector. I must tell you something about the RuTAG initiative from

my office.

4

� Research – Development – Delivery (Industrial Development Vs Rural Development)

� Problem in rural development is one of Technology Delivery

� RuTAG centres are now in Seven IITs

� Voluntary organisations like HESCO and Gandhigram

� Isotope Hyd (Utt) – Gravity Ropavay (Utt) – Vegetable Dyes (T.N.)

� Research and Innovation

� Concept Transfer and Re-Innovation for rural development.

To summarise, India’s technology needs – as we more rapidly to the status of a developed

country - range from nuclear to rural.

Padma Vibhushan Dr. R. Chidambaram, Principal Scientific Adviser to Govt. of India, delivering

the Tenth Bharat Ratna Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture on 29 February, 2012 at Hotel Bliss

(Darbar Hall), Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, under the aegis of AGRASRI.